How the Diocese emerged...

The Begining of Faith arround Tuticorin:

Thoothukudi, also called Tuticorin in English, is a Port City in South India and a metropolitan city in Tamilnadu. It had once been a beautiful pearl-fishery town.

The Portuguese conquests in India commenced after the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498. In accordance with the padroado granted to the Portuguese kings in 1455 by Pope Nicholas V, missionaries of the different orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuit, Augustinians, etc.) came with the conquerors, from the year 1500, and began to build churches along the western coastal districts in India . Padroado is a combination of the rights, privileges and duties, granted by the Papacy to the Crown of Portugal, as patron of the Roman Catholic missions and ecclesiastical establishments in the regions of Africa and East Indies .

In the first quarter of the 16 th century the pearl fishery coast (where Tuticorin is situated) stretching between Kanyakumari and Mannar (Rameswaram) was controlled by two powers. The king of Travancore controlled the southern half of the territory and the northern half was possessed by the Nayaks of Madurai. However, in 1516 a muslim virtually became the master of the coast. The misery and humiliation of the people escalated beyond remedy, when one of his men tore the ring off the ear of a member of the community, tearing the earlobe at the same time. In their struggle (known as the war of the ear) against the armed forces that burnt their villages, the people asked for Portuguese protection. The fleet of the Portuguese came with some priests, and about 20000 people were baptized. As the priests left, the newly baptized were left without any spiritual guidance.

St. Francis Xavier:

St. Francis Xavier landed at Goa in the month of May, in 1542. After about six months he with two young ecclesiastics who knew Tamil, came to the pearl fishery coast.

In his letter to St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1543, St. Francis Xavier himself describes his activities in this area. “they only replied that they were Christians, but that as they are ignorant of Portuguese, they know nothing of the precepts and mysteries of our holy religion. We could not understand one another, as I spoke Castilian and they Malabar; so I picked out the most intelligent and well-read of them … translated the Catechism into the Malabar tongue. This I learnt by heart, and then I began to go through all the villages of the coast, calling around me by the sound of a bell as many as I could, children and men … taught them the Christian doctrine … I kept telling them to go on teaching in their turn whatever they had learnt to their parents, family, and neighbors. …it often happens to me to be hardly able to use my hands from the fatigue of baptizing: often in a single day I have baptized whole villages. Sometimes I have lost my voice and strength altogether with repeating again and again the Credo and the other forms. …

Fifteen months later, toward the close of the year 1543, Francis was obliged to return to Goa to procure assistants. The seminary of the faith which had been founded there for the education of young Indians, was committed to his care and put into the hands of the Society of Jesus. The following year he returned with a supply of evangelical laborers, Indians as well as Europeans, whom he stationed in different towns. In 1544 St. Stephen church was built in Kombuthurai. It is surprising to know that in the same year two seminarians from Tuticorin were ordained to priesthood by the Bishop of Goa. Xavier himself visited kanakankudiyiruppu (Manal Matha Koil), Sankanankulam near Anaikarai, Rammathaupuram and pazhaiyakayal. Conversion took place in these places and later other Jesuit missionaries served them.

Francis left the Fishery Coast in 1545 for Malacca. In March 1546 he ordered Fr. Antony Criminal!i to go to the Fishery Coast . Fr. Criminalli was the first missionary who learned to read and write Tamil. One year later he was joined by Fr.Anrrique Anrriquez and others. In January - February 1548, Francis was back again on the Fishery Coast for a visit. He appointed Fr. Criminalli as superior of the mission. When Fr. Criminalli was killed towards the middle of 1549 in a military entanglement between the Badaga troops and the Portuguese at Vedalai, the missionaries elected Fr. Anrrique Anrriquez as their superior. Francis confirmed their choice by letter.

In Punnaikayal:

The Jesuit headquarters was set up in Punnaikayal. Anriquez as he describes in his letter to St. Ignatius Loyola, learned Tamil and even brought out a sort of Grammar which he called as “Arte”. He, with the help of native converts and “trained catechists“ translated the important prayers into Tamil. For the first time, the converts made the sacrament of penance only in 1549, as the priests could not understand Tamil earlier.

As was the case with Francis Xavier, Anriquez too laid special stress on the Christian training of the young. He taught the prayers to the girls in the mornings and to the boys in the evenings. It seems that till his arrival on the coast the girls were not attending the catechism classes. The boys used to go twice a day. But now that system was changed. The girls were asked to go in the mornings and the boys in the evenings. In every Christian village on the coast there was now a teacher of catechism and a person to gather the children every day.

In 1550 a hospital and Catechetical Training Center were built for the first time in Punnaikayal. He converted a certain Peter Louis who had been a famous Hindu Sanyasin. He would shortly become the professor of the Tamil college at Punnaikayal in 1557. After his conversion, peter Louis began to convert many people in and around that area. By 1551, there are references to the existence of 30 churches made of clay and wood, and covered with palm leaves. In 1553, the churches were destroyed by the king of Travancore and eventually the rebuilding took place.

In 1557 Cochin was established into a diocese. The pearl fishery coast became part of this new diocese. When a non-Jesuit became the Bishop of Cochin, priests from his own order were sent to this area, challenging the monopoly enjoyed by the Jesuits missionary thus for. This problem can be seen in a more detailed manner under the topic “Goa Mission and French Mission”. The first parishes in the costal region according to the report of 1644 were Perumanal, Periathalai, Manapad, Alanthalai, Veerapandian Patnam, Punnaikayal, Pazhaiyakayal, Tuticorin, Vaipar, Vembar and Periapatnam. Christian population was 50000 and 7 hospitals were there. Fr. Anriquez died at Punnaikayaland and buried in Tuticorin. In the costal region Perumanal, Idindakarai, Uvari, Thalampuli, Kombuthurai, Punnaikayal, Tuticorin, Vaipar, Vembar, Mukkur, and periapatnam.

By 1567, the first Tamil College was instituted in Punnaikayal. The convert Peter Louis began to teach in the college. In 1568 Fr. Anriquez wrote a letter to St. Ignatius of Loyola from Punnaikayal. He mentions about 7 priests, 2 deacons and one Tamil Brother in his team. Through this letter we come to know the ancient custom of allowing religious brothers and even devout native converts to perform marriage rite. It was abolished by the council of Trend. He also discusses the burden of the converts to pay tithes to the rulers, although they themselves took care of the priests financially well.

The first Tamil Printing press was set up at Punnaikayal in 1579. The Tamil Types had been made by Fr. Joam de Faria. Fr. Anriquez himself composed the following books in Tamil: Thampiramr vaNakkarn, Kiriiciththiyaani valvakkam, Confessionario (in Tamil: Kompeciyoonaayaru), and the Flos Sanctorum in Tamil, whose title has not come down to us, though we have the whole book.

In Marichukkatti:

The fruits of the missionary work by the team headed by Fr. Anriquez were the growing Catholic community and the churches built by them. Fr. Anriquez with other Jesuits, baptized people of Azhagappapuram or Marichukkatti in 1561. According to the Jesuit report in 1571 there were churches in Azhagappapuram or Marichukkatti, Srivaikundam, Thirukalur, Kalakadu, Vadakangulam, Azhagapapuram, Auaikarai (Isalapuram), Kallikulam (Theraikulam) and in the vicinity of Sathankulam. The church of St. James at Srivaikundam and that of St. Matthew the Apostle at Thirukalur were erected in 1600. As Thirukalur was then the biggest Christian village in the interior, naturally it became the first parish in the interior of the present Diocese of Tuticorin and Srivaikundam and other villages were all attached to Thirukalur as its substations.

In Tuticorin:

Facing continuous threats from Madurai Nayaks, the headquarters of the Jesuits were transferred from Punnaikayal to Tuticorin in 1579. A small church of our Lady of Mercy was built adjacent to their dwelling place. This church would in time become the present shrine of our Lady of Snows. In fact, even before St. Xavier came to India , in Tuticorin, there had been St. Peter’s Church built in 1538. This is the very first church of the whole of the pearl fishery coast. In 1558 the first Latin rite seminary was built in Tuticorin where seminarians were trained in morals, pastoral activities, Portuguese and music. In 1593 the first Catechumen Center was instituted in Tuticorin, managed by a Jesuit priest. Training was given to the catechumens for one full year.

In 1600 there were churches in Palayam (Tirunelveli), kaliavoor, Srivaikundam and Thirukalur. St. Matthew’s church in Thirukalur with 500 members was made into a parish in 1644. The substations were Alvarthirunagari, Saravamangalam, Marichukkatti, Srivaigundam, Manakarai (Seevalaperi) Vayapuram (Kaliavoor), Palayam (Palayamkottai) Kayatharu, Pattamadai, Veeravanallur, Sattuppatur (Kartharpillayur), Mannarkoil, Ayanarpatti (Aranapatti), Singanallur, Alari, Chrisvanallur (Krishnapuram), Meenkulam, Maravanakurichi (Maravakurichi), Kalakadu, Athur, Kurumbur, Perur.

In 1601 Holy Cross church was built in Vember followed by Bartholomew’s church in Manakadu near Srivaikundam in 1602. In 1603 kings of the areas destroyed most of these churches including the church of Our Lady of Mercy in Tuticorin. There is indication about a Jesuit professor from Goa , who worked in about 20 villages in and around Thirukalur in 1621. He converted a lot of people to the faith.

In 1685 Arulanandar built a church in Vadakankulam. Lot of conversion took place in this area in the late 1600s. Priests like Bernard de Souza, Gregory Antoin, Martin, Moses, Putheri, Denis Couchan, Nicholas and Causanal brought about conversion in places like Vadakankulam, Satankulam, Anaikarai and Azhagappapuram. In 1752 Fr. Putheri built the church of the Holy Family in Vadakankulam. It was in Vadakankulam that martyr Devasagayampillai was baptised in 1745. The first seminary of the diocese was in Vadakankulam as early as 1938.

In 1778 Kooduthalai parish had six substations. One of them was Uvari. Possibly the shrine of St. Antony was built by the Franciscans who served in Kooduthalai.

In 1861 Satankulam parish was instituted. In 1846, 45 protestant families from Atikadu became catholics. The same event occurred in 1846 at Mudalur. 400 protestants from Kadachapuram became catholics in 1887. Protestants from Pudur, Kulasekaranpatnam, Kadachapuram and Arumuganeri became catholics as well. In 1896 at Satankulam, church of the immaculate heart of our lady was consecrated by the Bishop of Tiruchirapalli. Conversion in koodankulam occurred in 1866. Church of St. Anne was built in 1887.

Between 1700 and 1740 people of Azhagappapuram embraced the Catholic faith. In 1908 Fr. Causanal renewed St. Antony’s church. In 1798 there was a thatched church in Kallikulam. It was renewed in 1838. In 1884 the new church of Our Lady of Snows was consecrated. In the 1900s thanks to the tireless missionary work of the Jesuit priests people of Kannankulam, Rajakrishnapuram, Kavalkinrau, Panagudi, Chokankudiyiruppu, Pragasapuram became Christians.

Goa Mission and French Mission:

In the middle of the 16 th century, with the pardurao, the Portuguese established missions along the west and the southern coast of India . They established four dioceses namely Goa , Cochin , Cranganore and Mylapore. In 1557 when Cochin became a diocese, the pearl fishery coast came under its authority. Whenever Bishops other than the Jesuits took charge of the diocese, they used to send their own priests to the Pearl Fishery Coast. In 1603 the madurai Nayak and Kayatar king imposed an unbearable tax on the people of the pearl fishery coast. The people could not pay the tax and hence they rebelled. The army destroyed the dwellings as well as the headquarters in Tuticorin. Seeking a safe haven, the people and the priests took shelter in Raja Theevu (Muyal theevu). The Bishop of Cochin misunderstood the whole event and sent the Portuguese to violently force the 10,000 people out of the island. Broken hearted the Jesuits gave the parishes to the Bishop and left Tuticorin. The Bishop sent the Cyrian priests to Tuticorin, Vembar, Vaipar, and Palaiyakayal. The rest of the parishes were left without any spiritual help.

In 1621 King Philip of Portugal ordered the Bishop of Cochin to give back the parishes to the Jesuits. But, in protest the Bishop resigned. The Jesuits once again took charge.

In 1759 the King of Portugal banned the Jesuits from working in the areas of his governance. Some Jesuits were exiled and others went underground. The bishop of Cochin sent some franciscan and cyrian priests.

With the worldwide suppression of the Society of Jesus by Pope Clement XIV in 1773, the Jesuit priests left the parishes. Meanwhile the pearl fishery coast was captured and dominated by the Dutch. Hence, the Portugal King could not exercise the Padroado in the Pearl Fishery Coast. To solve this problem, the propaganda of Rome entrusted the mission to the Propagation of Paris. As they had not enough priests, Goan and Cyrian priests from Goa , Cochin , Cranganore and Mylapore diocesan priests served in the parishes.

In 1814 the Society of Jesus was reestablished. In 1838 Pope Gregory XVI suppressed the Bishoprics of Cranganore, Cochin and Mylapore and put them under the control of the Propaganda of France. It deprived the Padroado clergy of all jurisdiction held by them so far. Hence, four Jesuit priests from Toulouse diocese in France were sent to work in the Pearl Fishery Coast. This came to be called as the French Mission.

The four Jesuit priests tried to get back the parishes from the Goan and Cyrian priests which caused riots and confusion in spiritual governance. Two factions namely “Goa Mission” and “French Mission” came about. Based on this division, small churches, and chapels were established in various parishes. For instance, Holy Spirit church in Manapad, St. Michael church in Punnaikayal, St. Ignatius church in Tuticorin found in support of the “Goa Mission”. St. Joseph church in Koothenkuli and Our Lady of Sorrows in KeelaVaipar were set up in support of the “French Mission”. In view of solving this problem, pope Leo XIII in 1886, made a concordat with the Portugal government, and put the dioceses of Goa and Mylapore under Padroado. The Pearl Fishery Coast came under the jurisdiction of the newly established diocese of Tiruchirapalli. But, five parishes had to be given to the Padroado Mylapore diocese. They were Our Lady of Snows in Tuticorin, St. Michael church at Punnaikayal, Assumption church at Vaipar, Holy Spirit church in Manapad, and St. Mary church in Kooduthalai. Priests from Goa Mission were appointed as parish priests. Even after the establishment of Tuticorin diocese these parishes were under Mylapore diocese until 1930.

Tuticorin Diocese:

Separated from the diocese of Tiruchirapalli, Tuticorin was created as a diocese and entrusted to the diocesan clergy in 1923 by the Apostolic Brief "Quae CatholicoNomini" of Pope Pius XI. Rt. Rev. Francis Tiburtius Roche S.J., was consecrated as the first Bishop of "THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF TUTICORIN" on 23rd September 1923. He was also the first Indian Bishop of the Latin Rite.. Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Theresa of Child Jesus were held as the patron saints of the diocese.

On April 4, 1930 the five parishes of Kooduthalai, Manapad, (Holy Ghost Church), Punnaikayal, Tuticorin (Our Lady of Snows Church) and Vaippar which were till then under the Padroado, were amalgamated into the diocese by virtue of the Papal Bull "Quae ad Spirituale" of Pope Pius XI. The diocese had 18 parishes, 23 priests and 70000 faithful. The Cathedral was built by a Jesuit named Piccinelli. In 1849 it was consecrated by the then Bishop of the Madurai Apostolic diocese.

Bishop Thomas Fernando was consecrated as the Second Bishop of Tuticorin on 7th October 1950. In January 1971, Bishop Thomas Fernando was transferred to the Diocese of Tiruchy.

On 9th December1971 Bishop M. Ambrose was consecrated as the third Bishop and he also was transferred to the Diocese of Coimbatore.

On 4th February 1981 Bishop S.T. Amalnather was consecrated as the fourth Bishop of Tuticorin.

After his retirement on 8th December 1999, Bishop Peter Fernando who was consecrated as the Co-adjutor on 29th May 1996 took charge of the diocese, as the fifth Bishop of Tuticorin. Then due to his promotion as the Archbishop of Madurai on 22nd March 2003, the See was vacant for about two years during which period Archbishop Peter Fernando remained the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese. On 18th May 2005 Bishop Yvon Ambroise, the present Bishop, was consecrated as the sixth Bishop of Tuticorin and has been guiding his flock.

The present Thoothukudi diocese comprises a major part of the newly created Thoothukudi district, nearly half of Thirunelveli district and a small portion of Kanyakumari district. There are 110 parishes and about 4,18,000 Catholics in this Diocese.

Former Prelates:
Most Rev. Francis Tiburtius Roche SJ (1923 – 1953);
Most Rev. Thomas Fernando (1953 – 1971);
Most Rev. Ambrose Mathalaimuthu (1971 – 1980);
Most Rev S.T. Amalanather (1981 – 1999);
Most Rev Peter Fernando (1999 – 2003).
Most Rev. Yvon Ambroise (May 2005 - Jan 2019)